Railroad fish-plate



" (No Model.)

M. G. HUBBARD. RAILROAD FISH PLATE.

No. 465,985. Patnted Dec. 29, 1891.

WEEEEEE: :[IIUEHT 7 $7M, fM/MQ STATES ATENT OFFICE.

MOSES G. HUBBARD, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

RAILROAD FISH-PLATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 465,985, dated December 29, 1891. Application filed February 5, 1891. Serial No. 380,339. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, MOSES G. HUBBARD, a citizen of the United States, and a'resident of Chicago, county of. Cook, and Stateof Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Railroad Fish-Plates, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification.

My invention consists in certain improvements upon the elastic double-flanged fishplates described in my pending application, Serial No. 370,660, filed November 7, 1890; and it consists in the combination, in a rail-joint, of two double-flanged fish-plates of a form adapting them to be made from sheet-steel of uniform thickness and having upright ribs for clamping the rail and pendent ribs underlying the rail and upright ribs, and formed at an angle to the latter for utilizing the clasticity of the steel, one of said pendent ribs being provided with an upturned hook, with which the other pendent rib engages, as hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings hereto annexed, Figure 1 is a side view showing two sections of railroad-rails of the usual T form in cross-section united at their ends by my improved fishplates. Fig. 2 is a transverse section through the rail and fish-plates, showing a connecting-bolt in elevation. Fig. 3 is an end view of the rail and fish-plates, showing about the degree of variation from a straight line that should be given to the upper and lower portions of the fish-plates in their manufacture to attain the proper degree of elastic force upon the base of the rail and upon the bolts and nuts by which the fish-plates are secured to the rail.

A A indicate the adjoining ends of two sections of T- rail of ordinary construction, and B and B the fish-plates or splice-bars bolted to opposite sides thereof through the web portion of the rail for uniting said ends. The bolt-holes in the rails are elongated, as usual, to permit expansion and contraction on the rail, and are formed in the usual relation to the ends of such rails, and the portion of the splice-bar, or the fish-plate proper (indicated at b) is elongated, as compared with the lower portions 1) to permit the location of the boltholes therein to conform to those in the ordinary rails, while'the lower portions I) remain or are made short enough to project down between the sides of two adjacent ties. These splice-bars are of the double-flanged form, as described in my said former applicatiomand the upper and lower ribs or parts I) and b thereof are set flaring or inclining outward slightly, in order to utilize the elasticity of the sheetsteel, from which the splice-bar is rolled, and this flaring of the ribs also facilitates the application of this form of fish-plates to the rails, as. shown in Fig. 3. The lower edge of one of the pendent ribs is extended to form an elongated hook or U-shaped loop b into which the lower edge of the pendent opposing rib b is inserted, as shown. With the lower edges thusunited and the upper ribs flaring, as shown, when the said upper ribs 19 b are drawn in snugly against the vertical sides of the web of the rail, as shown in Fig. 2,0wing to the nature of the sheet-steel from which they are formed, and the U-shaped double flange c 0, connecting the upper and lower ribs (9 and b, they exert a strong lateral pressure on the side flanges or base of the rail, and also on the bolts and nuts cl d',uniting the ribs b or fish-plates proper sufficiently to effectually prevent the jarring loose of the parts. The lower ribs 1) b cross the joint or opening between the adjacent ends of the railsections, and, standing vertically under the rail and being hooked together, as explained, the necessity for using bolts for uniting the lower ribs at points more difficult of access is avoided. The clamp or rib on the lower edge of one of the fish-plates should extend up about half-way on the lower pendent portion of the other fish-plate, and it would therefore not be as convenient to hook them together and apply them to the rails if the upper and lower portions of the fish-plates were made parallel with each other. This is important, for the reason that the hook should be long in order to insure entire reliability. If the portions 1) and b were made parallel with each other, the clamp or hook inust'necessarily be 'made so short as to be liable to unhook, thereby destroying the reliability of the joint. These fish-plates touch the lower portion of the rail directly over their lower upright portions and leave space enough at the outer edges of the base of the rail to permit the fish-plates to be drawn up by the bolts. The whole elasticity of the plate is thereby utilized, as clearly indicated in Figs. 2 and 3.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination,in a railroad-rail joint, of the two double-flanged fish-plates of a form adapting them to be rolled from sheet-steel of uniform thickness and provided with upright ribs for clamping the web of the rail, pendent ribs underlying the rail and upright ribs and set flaring or at an angle to the upright ribs for utilizing the elasticity of the steel, one of said pendent ribs being provided with a hook engaging the opposing pendent rib, all substantially as described.

2. The combination, in a railroad'rail joint, of the opposing double-flanged fish-plates B and B, in form adapting them to be made from sheet-steel of uniform thickness and each provided with an upright rib for securing it to the web of the rail, a pendent rib underlying the rail, the said upright rib being formed at an angle to the pendent rib and united thereto by a U shaped or double flange engaging the base of the rail, one of said pendent ribs being provided with a long U- shaped hook to receive and hold the opposing pendent rib, all substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 4th day of February, A. D. 1891.

MOSES e. HUBBARD.

\Vitnesses:

WM. F. THOMAS, A. V. WEAVER. 

